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Journal ArticleDOI

Injured Professional Musicians and the Complex Relationship between Occupation and Health

05 Jul 2012-Journal of Occupational Science (Taylor & Francis Group)-Vol. 19, Iss: 3, pp 258-270
TL;DR: This mixed format (research and discussion) article addresses the relationship between occupation and health by including findings from a phenomenological study of the lived experience of professional musicians with playing-related injuries.
Abstract: This mixed format (research and discussion) article addresses the relationship between occupation and health. The conceptual discussion is deepened by including findings from a phenomenological study of the lived experience of professional musicians with playing-related injuries. Participants described decreased awareness of time and of their bodies when they were healthy, particularly when experiencing flow. Participants described flow as detrimental to their health, and used strategies to disrupt flow in order to continue in their chosen occupation. This choice can be seen as unhealthy, particularly in cases where the musician has been advised to decrease or stop playing for health reasons. However, occupational science theories favour individual choice in occupations. This apparent contradiction can be resolved if the definition of health is broad and includes justice and freedom to choose.

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2,629 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Sound Practice orchestral musicians work health and safety project used formative and process evaluation approaches to develop evidence-informed and clinically applicable physical therapy interventions, ultimately resulting in favorable outcomes.
Abstract: Playing a musical instrument at an elite level is a highly complex motor skill. The regular daily training loads resulting from practice, rehearsals and performances place great demands on the neuromusculoskeletal systems of the body. As a consequence, performance-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) are globally recognized as common phenomena amongst professional orchestral musicians. These disorders create a significant financial burden to individuals and orchestras as well as lead to serious consequences to the musicians’ performance and ultimately their career. Physical therapists are experts in treating musculoskeletal injuries and are ideally placed to apply their skills to manage PRMDs in this hyper functioning population, but there is little available evidence to guide specific injury management approaches. An Australia-wide survey of professional orchestral musicians revealed that the musicians attributed excessively high or sudden increase in playing-load as major contributors to their PRMDs. Therefore, facilitating musicians to better manage these loads should be a cornerstone of physical therapy management. The Sound Practice orchestral musicians work health and safety project used formative and process evaluation approaches to develop evidence-informed and clinically applicable physical therapy interventions, ultimately resulting in favourable outcomes. After these methodologies were employed, the intervention studies were conducted with a national cohort of professional musicians including: health education, onsite injury management, cross-training exercise regimes, performance postural analysis, and music performance biomechanics feedback. The outcomes of all these interventions will be discussed alongside a focussed review on the existing literature of these management strategies. Finally, a framework for best-practice physical therapy management of PRMDs in musicians will be provided.

66 citations


Cites background from "Injured Professional Musicians and ..."

  • ...Negative connotations of inferior technical competency are commonly directed at musicians suffering performance-related injuries by their peers (Guptill, 2011, 2012; Raymond et al., 2012)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A tailored exercise program for musicians was effective at managing PR MDs, especially in reducing the frequency and severity of PRMDs.
Abstract: PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of a purpose-designed exercise program on performance-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) and associated risk factors in a sample of professional orchestral musicians. METHODS: A 10-week exercise program was made available to full-time musicians employed by the eight premier symphony orchestras of Australia. Questionnaires were administered before, immediately after (T1), and 6 months after interventions (T2) containing questions relating to change in frequency and severity of PRMDs, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) during rehearsal, private practice, and performance, as well as nine performancerelated factors. Participants were also asked to rate whether these performance-related factors affected their overall playing capacity during different playing situations. A comparative control group of musicians had no intervention and completed a modified questionnaire at the same time points. RESULTS: Exercise participants (n=30) reported a reduction in frequency (p<0.05) and severity (p<0.05) of PRMDs at T1 but not at T2 compared to controls (n=23). The exercise group reported a significant improvement in RPE during private practice at T1 (p<0.01) and T2 (p<0.01), but not during rehearsal and performance. At T1, the intervention was rated to be moderately to highly effective for three performancerelated factors: strengthening muscles that support playing, learning techniques that support playing, and posture. Further, participants reported an intervention effect on overall playing capacity during rehearsal at T1 and T2. CONCLUSIONS: A tailored exercise program for musicians was effective at managing PRMDs, especially in reducing the frequency and severity of PRMDs. Physical therapy exercises should be considered in modifying performance-related factors that have been reported to be predictors of PRMDs. Med Probl Perform Art 2014; 29(4):181–188.

51 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: A critical review of research examining the relationship between occupation and health and well-being found moderate to strong evidence that occupation has an important influence on health andWell-being for persons who experience a disability which affects their daily occupations.
Abstract: Occupational therapists believe that there is a relationship between occupation, health and well-being but there is little evidence in the occupational therapy literature to support this belief. This paper describes the results of a critical review of research examining the relationship between occupation and health and well-being. Twenty-two studies from the health and social sciences literature were reviewed using specific methodological review criteria. The findings of these studies provide moderate to strong evidence that occupation has an important influence on health and well-being. Because most of this research has been completed with persons without disabilities, further research is required to explain the nature of the relationship between occupation and health and well-being for persons who experience a disability which affects their daily occupations

49 citations

References
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19 Jun 2008

14 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The lived experience of widowhood during pregnancy as defined by 10 widows whose husbands were killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks or while they served in the US military during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is described.

13 citations


Additional excerpts

  • ...In healthcare, phenomenology often answers questions about how individuals experience particular health concerns (Doherty & Scannell-Desch, 2008; Goldberg, 2008; Ingadottir & Halldorsdottir, 2008; Parsons-Suhl, Johnson, McCann, & Solberg, 2008; Russell, Thille, Hogg, & Lemelin, 2008; Toombs, 2001)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, Behnke's approach to a phenomenology of playing a musical instrument is explored by combining arguments of Raffman's cognitivist explanation of ineffability with Merleau-Ponty's view of embodied perception.
Abstract: Some facets of making music are explored by combining arguments of Raffman's cognitivist explanation of ineffability with Merleau-Ponty's view of embodied perception Behnke's approach to a phenomenology of playing a musical instrument serves as a further source Focusing on the skilled performer-listener, several types of ineffable knowledge of performing music are identified: gesture feeling ineffability—the performer's sensorimotor knowledge of the gestures necessary to produce instrumental sounds is not exhaustively communicable via language; gesture nuance ineffability —the performer is aware of nuances of instrumental gestures, eg, micro-variations of intensity or duration of musical gestures, but cannot perceptually, and consequently conceptually, categorize those fine-grained variations; and ineffabilities of inter-subjectivity—the non-verbal interaction between performers that makes a performance a vibrant dialogue is similarly incommunicable An attempt to identify some of the ineffable dimensions of this dialogue is proposed Further ineffabilities relating the acoustical embedding of performing are identified

5 citations


"Injured Professional Musicians and ..." refers background in this paper

  • ...The invisibility of the instrument in musical performance has also been described in the phenomenology literature by Schmickling (2006) and Behnke (1989)....

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